


Even unto the end

by BlushLouise



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Hurt No Comfort, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-05 20:43:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18836422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlushLouise/pseuds/BlushLouise
Summary: Once, there was a young Gerudo male who traveled the world in search of a way to help his people. On the edge of Zora's Domain, he met a young Zora girl.It could change history. But fate, unfortunately, is not so easily thwarted.Inspired bythis awesome art by siobhanchiffon on Tumblr.





	Even unto the end

**Author's Note:**

> Would I love you until the end of all?  
> There is no other course for me to take  
> For it's your love that holds my heart in thrall  
> And you won't let me suffer for your sake  
> I feel for you, I live when you are here  
> I sigh in discontent when you are gone  
> Our every parting fills my heart with fear  
> I'd rather you be safe than live alone  
> But I must let you go, in heart and deed  
> There is another destiny for you  
> You will return when your own folk is freed,  
> And I'll be here to soothe you when you do.  
> You are my champion, my stalwart knight  
> And so I'll always be your guiding light.

I watch him at first, where he's swimming in the water. His skin is golden, red hair streaming behind him as he dives. It marks him as one of the desert tribe. I don't know where he learned to swim, but he's as graceful in the water as one of my own people.

I hadn't realized he's spotted me until his head breaks the surface and he looks right at me and smile. "Hello."

I smile and wave back.

 

His name is Ganondorf, he says, as we sit on the bank. His damp hair sticks to his cheek. He's traveling to prove himself, according to the traditions of his people. There's a faint frown on his face, as if he's not happy.

"Do you not like our land?" I ask tentatively.

His smile is soft. "Your land is beautiful. All glistening and peaceful. I love the sound of the waterfalls and the droplets catching the light and throwing a rainbow's colors onto everything. So different from my own land. There, the light is sharp and bright and merciless, and the sand and stone so hot it will burn you if you're not careful. My land is a crucible, burning away all softness."

"So it's your own land you do not like," I say.

His smile is as gentle as his hand on my cheek. "I'm not explaining myself very well, am I? My land is beautiful in its ferocity. It is brutal, and that fosters strength. But we should not have to live in a proving ground that takes more of our people than the tribe can do without. We should be able to live in peace, and plenty, and not fear for the next sandstorm or hide from the sun in the daytime and the cold at night. We should not have to send out warriors and traders, only to have them return to empty dwellings, their families lost to heat or starvation. We deserve to live. That doesn't sound like too much to ask, does it?" His eyes are almost pleading as he looks at me.

"That doesn't sound like too much at all," I whisper. I imagine my own family lost, my tribe diminished from harsh weather and harsher lands, and my soul aches.

He hums, rests his head on my shoulder. His hair is soft and tickles. "I tried to talk to the leader of my tribe. Maybe we can move to another land. She would not hear me, because I am voe, a man, and a young one besides. I must prove myself, and then I may beg for an audience." He snorts. " _Beg_. I will not. I will prove myself, and I will ask for an audience, the way any vai of our people can. And then I will attempt to convince her to lead our people to new lands, ones where the young ones can grow up without fearing their own home." He lifts his head again and looks at me hopefully. "Do you think I can do it?"

I stroke his cheek. "I think you can do anything."

His smile is blinding.

 

Ganondorf stays for three days by the little pond, and I stay with him. We swim together, and I teach him to spearfish; we hunt together, and he teaches me to use a bow.

Every night, we lie entwined together under his blankets.

On the fourth day, I watch as he packs up his things.

"Would that I could stay," he says, and I hear the truth in his voice.

"You have more important things waiting for you," I say. It hurts, but I know I cannot keep him. He has the future of his tribe to think about.

His hands are on my shoulders. "More serious things, maybe. Larger things. Never more important." He takes my hands, rests his forehead against mine. "You are most important. And I will come back to you."

"I will wait," I breathe. "Every full moon, I will be here waiting."

He kisses me once more, and leaves, taking my heart with him.

 

It is two years before I see Ganondorf again. In that time, the land grows darker. Creatures appear in our waters that never used to be there. Trade lessens as the road grows more dangerous, and every trader who makes it here is armed with weapons and grim news.

Still, I wait at the pool every full moon. I practice shooting my bow, taking down one of the fell creatures who've infested our pond. It leaves behind foul-smelling tentacles and half-digested fish.

"Not bad," he says from behind me. "I see you've practiced."

"Ganondorf," I breathe, and then his arms are around me.

"Hello, my love," he murmurs. "I am so very glad to see you."

 

He has changed. Grown more muscular, harder. Different from the young man of two years ago.

I know I have changed too. I am taller, stronger, more fierce, because I have to be. But I have not changed as much as him. I am strong, but he is stronger; I am alert, but he is always on edge.

He is scarred, now. Thin, pale lines down his arm, his thigh, the back of his shoulder. One small triangular mark on one cheek.

"Spiked club," he explains. "I blocked the strike with my shield, but the spike got me."

Every scar has a story.

"I found their spawning ground," he says. His head is in my lap, eyes looking up at me with such trust that it's humbling. "Deep in the mountains. They are beasts, with no true hierarchy, and I thought - I thought if I could make myself their leader, then that would prove that I'm strong. But all I accomplished was to loose all my arrows and my best blade, forcing me to retreat. They hounded me all the way back to the ford." He looks at me, begging silently for understanding, and when it hits me...

I reel back in shock.

My love did this. To our lands, to every land. Every dead trader, ever attack, every fouled waterway, it can be laid at his feet. These monsters are here because he led them out.

…

… but he did not mean to.

"They are everywhere now." My tone is sad, but my hand keeps stroking his hair. "How will you drive them back?"

"I will do it." He takes my hand, kisses each finger tip. "Trust me, my love, I will. I have a plan." He pulls me down to lie next to him.

 

Later, when we're warm and sated and cuddled together under the blankets, he explains. "There is a power there, deep in bones of the mountains," he begins. "I felt it. The monsters are drawn to it. If I can harness that, if I can possess it, I can bend them to my will and force them to retreat. Then my leader will be forced to listen to me. Stars, I will be so powerful even the king of Hyrule himself will have to listen to me."

I touch the fading scar on his bare chest. "Maybe the power is buried for a reason. Maybe it's dangerous."

"All power is dangerous," he replies, cradling my cheek. "I am aware. It is a price I must pay. I cannot leave things as they are."

"I an afraid for you," I whisper.

He pulls me close. "Oh, my love, do not fear. No power can keep me from you."

 

Again, he stays for three days. Any longer, he says, and he would not be able to make himself leave. I understand why he cannot stay - he has so much work to do, so much hardship and strife ahead of him.

"Leave that power alone," I plead one final time. "Go to the king in Hyrule castle, ask for soldiers. Drive the monsters out with swords and spears and let the power in the mountain sleep."

He smiles at me. "You still fear for my life."

"Of course I do. I would have you back here one full moon. I would have you back to stay one day."

"Very well." He kisses me. "You are wise, my love. I will go to the king."

"And when it's done, come back," I murmur against his lips.

"One full moon," he agrees.

Then he's gone.

 

The world is dark without him. I go about my duties, guarding my people and our domain, hunt for food. I kill more of the monsters that infest our waters, and earn a few scars of my own when we try to drive out a tall, fourlegged beast that's taken over one of our mountain plains.

We fail. At great cost of life. And we decide to guard the roads, guard the realm, and let that monster be.

When Ganondorf comes back, he's nigh unrecognizable.

His hair is a tangled, dirty mess against his back. There are bleeding wounds across his chest and abdomen. And there is some form of purple sticky substance clinging to him. It reminds me of the intestines of the water monsters.

I take him into the pool to get him clean. The water is soiled from bank to bank by the time I'm satisfied. Then I dress his wounds and ease him down on the riverbank.

"I tried the king," he says, as he's shivering under the blanket. His golden skin, once so warm, is cold and clammy to the touch. "He would not hear me. He was focused on ancient artifacts, trying to bury the grief over his lost wife. So I went to his generals. I sent messengers to the people of the mountain, and the wood, and to the fliers who reside in the cold peaks near my home. I even went to my own leader. None would assist me. They claimed a need to protect their own borders, and would not see that a joint effort might protect all their borders." He clings to me, and I pull him close and tuck the blanket around us to help warm him up.  
"I know you asked me not to," he says slowly, head tucked under my chin. "I know I said I would not. But I had no other recourse." I can feel him trying to take a deep breath, trying to ease the trembling. "I went to the power in the mountain."

Those words are ice in my bones. But he is here, in my arms. He is safe. I cling to those truths as he speaks.

"It is a massive, powerful thing." His voice is quiet. "Heavy, pulsing strings of it manifest throughout the caves. Gleaming purple in the dark. It hurt to touch it at first, and I went through many healing ointments and elixirs before I got used to the sting and could touch it safely. So I followed the purple growth to its source. I heard the power in my mind." He shivers again, harder than before. "It struck me down."

I am both saddened and glad to hear this. I do not want him near that power. And still, I want the monsters gone.

"My love," I whisper, try to comfort. For I am sure that the dichotomy that disturbs me plagues him so much more.

"I could not take it for my own," he continues. "I could not even borrow it. It is too much for me to wield. Yet some part of it seems to have stayed with me. The monsters acted different when I next came near them. Some drew closer without attacking, and some fled from me. It was strange."

"I'm glad you are here." I rest my hand on his chest, over his heart. There's a strange dread in me, like I am already losing him. "Will you stay this time?"

"I cannot. Not yet." His voice is a sigh. "I still need to help. There are so many of them."

"I know."

Too many of them to count. Too many varieties. And my love in the middle of it.

 

When the three days are up, Ganondorf leaves.

 

There are rumors of a nameless evil rising in the west. Worse even than the monsters already here, it rises, waves and waves of creatures coming forth before it. Even my people, sheltered as we are, are not spared. We no longer travel down the river. The little news that reach us is dire, spelling trouble for all.

I teach the young ones how to fight with a spear, and how to use a bow.

The fish become scarce.

When Ganondorf reappears, he comes as a scourge. He's no longer himself.

"Hello, my love."

"Are you still my love?" I reply. This apparition before me is not the man I knew.

"At the core, I am the same." He takes a step closer. Tall enough now to loom over me, he's wide and powerful and carries a darkness on him like a shroud. "I have grown strong. None may stand against me now."

"You never meant to conquer," I whisper. "You never meant to enslave."

"I meant to give my people a safe place to live," he replies, an anger in his tone I have never heard before. "I mean to give them a future. If this is the price to do so, then I will pay that price. I will pay it a hundred times over." He reaches out, faster than I would have believed, and takes hold of my chin in his large calloused hand. "Would you stand by my side? Through you, I would gain Zora's Domain."

I stand firm. This is not the Ganondorf I knew and loved. "Then through me you will have to go. I stand as a shield for my people and my land. We will not be yours, Ganondorf, to rule and sacrifice as you please. The Zora will not bow to you."

He scowls. "I am not Ganondorf any longer. Ganondorf was weak. I am Ganon now, and men will remember it."

"Ganondorf was gentle," I reply, taking a step back. "He was kind, and valiant, and courageous, and beloved. I see I have lost him to you. I pray some day he will cast you off, but until then…" I take my spear, my trident. "By the strength and magic of my people, I cast you out of our domain. The waterways will not aid you. The rivers and lakes will not sustain you. Until you seek peace with the land once again, until this power that rides you is destroyed, you may not come back."

He sneers, furious. The dark light about him glows purple. "Very well. I shall take control by other means." He turns away. "Be well, my love. I shall see you at the next full moon."

 

Some time after, when Vah Ruta goes insane, I stand and watch my land be flooded.

 

The next full moon rises red.


End file.
